What’s Happenin’ at TEAM Punta Gorda?
 
By Dave Charney, TPG Executive Assistant

 
The  following is the last  of three articles explaining the on-going activities of TEAM Punta Gorda
 
After the Citizens’ Master Plan 2005 was created and gifted to the city and county, many people thought TEAM Punta Gorda had completed what it set out to do.  But we see the mission more broadly—to keep working with all parties to make sure that implementation happens.
 
In the past two articles we have outlined quite a few of the activities that TEAM is pursuing in accordance with our strategic plan, adopted earlier this summer.  Below is the continuation of the list of activities we’re undertaking to help our community recover:
 
TEAM Punta Gorda has quietly but with vigor supported the Spirit of Punta Gorda event that marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Charley.  Spirit of Punta Gorda, all volunteers themselves, created a nifty celebration, including national news coverage, attendance by influential political figures, and a great concert by Jim Morris and the Bamboo Band.  Highlight of the event was the presentation of a 25-foot-tall sculpture of two palm trees – one standing tall to represent our spirit and one bending over to represent the force of the storm, both on top of a sundial marking the time of 4:27 pm, the moment Charley struck Punta Gorda.  This landmark artwork was created in part from hurricane debris.  When completed, the sculpture will be erected in Laishley Park.   TEAM volunteers were proud to lend a hand to this very successful public event.
 
We continue to educate the public through press releases, Op-Ed pieces in the newspaper, and other public outreach efforts.  This effort has helped residents of the Punta Gorda area realize that there is a lot of work underway (both from the TEAM’s volunteer efforts and the from City/County government professionals) to help fill in “the missing teeth” (vacant lots) in Punta Gorda’s smile.
 
TEAM continues to distribute information at every Third Thursday Gallery Walk in downtown Punta Gorda.
 
TEAM’s Parks and Recreation Committee is developing specific plans for landscaping parks in the area.  The master plan identified park locations and general landscaping concepts, but the devil is always in the details.  TEAM Punta Gorda will develop specific planting and landscaping plans for each park, and give those plans to the City and County for approval and implementation.  To the extent that TEAM can raise funds to pay for this landscaping, we will do so, thereby easing the burden of government to create beautiful public spaces.
 
TEAM Punta Gorda has volunteers working closely with County Government and the “Save the Court House” Committee to help determine if the Court House should be preserved, and if so, what should it be used for. This issue deeply divides the residents of Punta Gorda, but the TEAM is committed to work with all parties to try to reach a public consensus about this historically significant building.
 
We have created a Master Plan Resource Center, staffed with volunteer engineers, planners, builders and architects, to help educate people interested in investing in the redevelopment of our City and surrounding area.  This staff helps educate prospective investors about the requirements of the master plan, the concepts of New Urbanism, zoning codes, Land Development Regulations (LDRs), and the political realities of getting projects approved in this environment.  Our citizens need to see shovels in the dirt, and buildings rising as soon as possible.  Once shovels bite into the ground, the people of Punta Gorda will see that the city IS coming back, and that TEAM Punta Gorda is making a difference.
 
TEAM continues to research waterfront and harbor development opportunities, and pledges to assist the City and County in developing the necessary factual basis and preparing the paperwork for Florida DEP and U.S. EPA approval of water projects, including mooring buoys, docks, marinas, additional access to Charlotte Harbor, and other harbor facilities.
 
We have recreated our website, and developed ways to communicate on a regular basis with those people who have given us their e-mail address.  These addresses are for the strict use of TEAM Punta Gorda, and will never be used for any other purpose.  If you’d like to receive regular updates about TEAM activities, sign up on the membership page at www.teampuntagorda.org.  There is no membership fee.
 
All of this is going on behind the scenes, without much public attention or fanfare.  Few of these efforts make news, and much of it is just plain hard work.  We expect to be in business until our town is rebuilt, and we know that will happen in stages over the next seven to nine years.  Stay tuned—and join it--we’ll tell you everything we can as soon as we know it!